For any non-scientist interested in the climate debate there is nothing better than a ready primer to guide you through the complexities of atmospheric physics – the ‘hardest’ science of climatology. Here we outline the essential points made by Dr Gerlich, a respected German physicist that counter the bogus theory of man-made global warming (AGW).

Before going further, it’s also worth bearing in mind that no climatologist ever completed any university course in climatology – that’s how new this branch of science really is. Like any new science the fall back position of a cornered AGW proponent is the dreaded ‘appeal to authority’ where the flustered debater, out of his or her depth, will say, “Well, professor so-and-so says it’s true – so it must be true.’ Well, don’t fall for that proxy tree-ring counters gambit any longer. Here is the finest shredding of junk science you will ever read.

Dr Gerlich, a respected German physicist, in a recently revised and re-published paper debunks AGW and shows that the IPCC “consensus” atmospheric physics model tying CO2 to global warming is not only unverifiable, but actually violates basic laws of physics i.e. the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics. The latest version of this momentous scientific paper appears in the March 2009 edition of theInternational Journal of Modern Physics.

The central claims of Dr. Gerlich and his colleague, Dr. Tscheuschner include, but are not limited to:

1) The mechanism of warming in an actual greenhouse is different than the mechanism of warming in the atmosphere, therefore it is not a “greenhouse” effect and should be called something else.

2) The climate models that predict catastrophic global warming also result in a net heat flow from atmospheric greenhouse gasses to the warmer ground, which is in violation of the second law of thermodynamics.

Essentially, any machine which transfers heat from a low temperature reservoir to a high temperature reservoir without external work applied cannot exist. If it did it would be a ‘perpetual motion machine’ – the realm of pure sci-fi.

Gerlich’s and Tscheuschner’s independent theoretical study detailed in a lengthy (115 pages), mathematically complex (144 equations, 13 data tables, and 32 figures or graphs), and well-sourced (205 references) paper. The german physcists prove that even if CO2 concentrations double (a prospect even global warming advocates admit is decades away), the thermal conductivity of air would not change more than 0.03%. They show that the classic concept of the glass greenhouse wholly fails to replicate the physics of Earth’s climate. They also prove that a greenhouse operates as a ‘closed’ system while the planet works as an ‘open’ system and the term ‘atmospheric greenhouse effect’ does not occur in any fundamental work involving thermodynamics, physical kinetics, or radiation theory. All through their paper the german scientists show how the greenhouse gas theory relies on guesstimates about the scientific properties involved to ‘calculate’ the chaotic interplay of such a myriad and unquantifiable array of factors that is beyond even the abilities of the most powerful of modern supercomputers.

The paper’s introduction states it neatly:

“(a) there are no common physical laws between the warming phenomenon in glass houses and the fictitious atmospheric greenhouse effects, (b) there are no calculations to determine an average surface temperature of a planet, (c) the frequently mentioned difference of 33 degrees Celsius is a meaningless number calculated wrongly, (d) the formulas of cavity radiation are used inappropriately, (e) the assumption of a radiative balance is unphysical, (f) thermal conductivity and friction must not be set to zero, the atmospheric greenhouse conjecture is falsified.”

This thorough debunking of the theory of man made warming shows that any mechanism whereby carbon dioxide in the cooler upper atmosphere cannot exert any thermal “forcing” effect on the warmer surface below. To do so would violate both the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics. As there is no glass roof on the earth to trap the excess heat, it escapes upward into space.Thus we may conclude that the common sense axioms are preserved so that the deeper the ocean, the colder the water and heat rises, it does not fall. QED.

(this article was first published on Climategate.com on December 27, 2010. Copyright belongs to John O’Sullivan)